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#SportsReport: Chad Bettis Returns To The Mound After Cancer Treatment

Rockies Pitcher Chad Bettis
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MLB:

Chad Bettis drew a standing ovation when he took the mound for the first time since cancer treatment, then threw seven impressive innings Monday night as the Colorado Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves 3-0.

Bettis scattered six hits, walked none and struck out two. He hadn't pitched in the majors since being diagnosed with testicular cancer in November.

Bettis had surgery for the condition, but tests in March showed the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. He later underwent chemotherapy.

The crowd at Coors Field gave Bettis a big cheer as he went out to pitch the first inning. The Braves' best chance to score against him came when Ender Inciarte led off with a triple, but he was thrown out trying to stretch it to an inside-the-park home run.

The 28-year-old Bettis led Colorado in starts (32), wins (14) and innings (186) last season. He left for a pinch-hitter in the seventh with the game still scoreless.

Colorado scored three times in the eighth off Rex Brothers (2-3), who relieved starter Julio Teheran.

Mike Dunn (5-1) got the win and Greg Holland closed for his 35th save.

The New York Yankees rode three homers, including Aaron Judge's 36th of the year, to a 4-2 victory over the cross-town rival Mets. The win moved New York to within four and a half games of first place Boston in the American League's Eastern Division race. Curtis Grandson and Yoenis Cespedes hit bases-empty homers for the Mets. Aaron Hicks and Gary Sanchez also went deep for the Yankees.

—Edwin Encarnacion homered twice to help the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians earn their fourth straight victory, 7-3 over the East-leading Boston Red Sox. In a rematch of last year's American League Division Series, which Cleveland won in a three-game sweep, Trevor Bauer (11-8) struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs — all on solo homers by Red Sox rookies. Rafael Devers had two and Andrew Benintendi one.

—Josh Donaldson clubbed a homer to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Donaldson connected against Rays starter Jake Odorizzi in the first inning. Wilson Ramos homered for the losing Jays and Nick Tepesch went six strong innings on the mound for the win.

In other MLB action:

—Joey Gallo hit his 33rd home run and the Texas Rangers also played some small ball in a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Martin Perez (7-10) had a second straight solid start for Texas. The lefty made it through six innings without giving up any more runs after trailing 2-0 only three batters into the game.

—Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo hit back-to-back homers to cap a five-run fourth inning, and the Chicago Cubs continued their recent dominance of the Cincinnati Reds with a 15-5 victory. Bryant went 2 for 4 with a walk and has reached safely in 16 of his last 20 plate appearances. Rizzo was 3 for 5 with a season-high five RBIs

— Zack Greinke struck out nine in six-plus innings to bounce back from his first home loss of the season, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-0 victory over the Houston Astros. The AL West-leading Astros have lost six of seven.

— Cam Gallagher hit a grand slam for his first career home run and second big league hit with a sixth-inning drive, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 6-2 on Monday night. Jake Junis (5-2), recalled for his seventh stint with Kansas City this season, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings with two strikeouts and no walks. The Royals moved into a second-place tie with the idle Twins, five games back of AL Central-leading Cleveland.

— Tim Beckham hit the first pitch of the game out for his first career leadoff homer, Manny Machado hit the sixth grand slam of his career an inning later, and the Baltimore Orioles routed the Seattle Mariners 11-3. Baltimore pounded Seattle's pitching, scoring double-digit runs for the second time in three games and the sixth time since the All-Star break

— Jose Pirela's two-out, two-run single highlighted the four-run sixth inning that carried the San Diego Padres to a 7-4 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cory Spangenberg hit a leadoff homer in the eighth to finish with three hits and three runs. Philadelphia rookie Rhys Hoskins hit his first two major league home runs, a leadoff shot in the fourth and a solo shot in the seventh.

Stephen Strasburg didn't think he needed to go on a rehab start, so he made quick work of his brief trip to the minors. The Washington Nationals right-hander struck out five and allowed three hits and one walk in a rehab appearance for Class A Potomac on Monday night. Facing the Salem Red Sox, Strasburg showcased good command of his fastball and good movement on his curveball as he allowed one earned run.

Strasburg threw 64 pitches, plus a few more in the bullpen to get up to the 75 the team had prescribed. Afterward, the 29-year-old sounded like he was eager to get back into major league action.

Strasburg said, "I feel like I was ready to come back before this, but they wanted to be conservative, so hopefully this is enough."

NFL:

Asked about players who did not stand for the national anthem before preseason games, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday that while the playing of the anthem is a special moment to him, "we also have to understand the other side."

Goodell made the comments at University of Phoenix Stadium during a 45-minute question-and-answer period with Arizona Cardinals club seat holders. One season ticket-holder, Bruce Olson, asked the commissioner whether players were going to continue to protest during the anthem and if anything could be done about it.

Goodell replied that "it's one of those things where I think we have to understand that there are people that have different viewpoints."

He said that "people do have rights and we want to respect those."

The Arizona Cardinals were back at practice on Monday and coach Bruce Arians didn't like what he saw from most of his offense, particularly his wide receivers.

He said he thought it was "very lethargic offensively."

The head coach said he wasn't pleased with the pass receivers and added that "we'll look around and see who's available."

Lest anyone be left guessing the identity of the two receivers who escaped the criticism, Arians spelled it out later in his post-practice news conference.

Jaron Brown was "as good as you can get, he and Larry (Fitzgerald)," the coach said.

As for the rest of them "It's not effort," Arians said, "(it's) assignments, catching the ball, the main things that receivers have to do they're not doing."

TENNIS:

Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Western & Southern Open, which he has won seven times. Tournament officials announced Federer's withdrawal on Monday, the first full day of matches at the event in Cincinnati.

The 19-time major champion says he "tweaked" his back last week at the Rogers Cup, where he lost Sunday to Alexander Zverev in the final.

The Swiss star, No. 3 in the ATP Tour rankings, becomes the fifth of the top six players to skip Cincinnati because of injuries. He joins top-ranked Andy Murray, No. 4 Stan Wawrinka, fifth-ranked Novak Djokovic and sixth-ranked Marin Cilic, the defending champion.

Federer's withdrawal means Rafael Nadal will return to No. 1 when new ATP rankings are released on Aug. 21. The Spaniard will be No. 1 for the first time since July 6, 2014.

Nadal has spent 141 weeks as the men's No. 1 player.

NFL:

Buffalo Bills newly acquired receiver Jordan Matthews has been diagnosed with a chip fracture in his sternum and will be listed week to week.

The team provided the update Monday morning, a day after Matthews was hurt in his first practice since being acquired in a trade with Philadelphia. Matthews finished practice before being escorted off the field complaining of a chest injury.

The Bills are counting on Matthews to fill starting receiver Sammy Watkins' spot after he was dealt to the Los Angeles Rams in a separate trade on Friday. Buffalo gave up starting cornerback Ronald Darby to acquire Matthews and a third-round draft pick from Philadelphia.

Defensive end Jared Crick has been carted off the Denver Broncos practice field after apparently injuring his right leg during run drills Monday.

Crick's injury comes 48 hours after the Broncos' other starting defensive end, Derek Wolfe, was carted off the field with a sprained right ankle that could sideline him until the season opener next month.

The Broncos have been hit hard along their rebuilt D-line this summer, losing defensive end Billy Winn to a torn right ACL in their preseason opener last week and Wolfe over the weekend. Also sidelined until September are nose tackle Kyle Peko (foot) and outside linebackers Shane Ray (wrist) and Shaq Barrett (hip).

Also, rookie receiver/returner Carlos Henderson underwent thumb surgery on Sunday.

The Washington Redskins wrapped up their Richmond training camp today with a brief workout that ended when free safety D.J. Swearinger kicked an extra point that barely cleared the crossbar.

Swearinger's kick came after coach Jay Gruden invited cornerback Bashaud Breeland to try one, keeping alive a tradition of ending camp by asking a player to do something outside the ordinary. Last year, defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois caught a punt. Breeland, however, missed his kick badly.

SOCCER:

Cristiano Ronaldo has been banned for five games after shoving a referee following his red card during Real Madrid's 3-1 victory over Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday.

The Spanish football federation says that Ronaldo has been suspended for one game for the red card and four games for pushing the referee in the back.

Ronaldo will miss Wednesday's return leg of the Spanish Super Cup in Madrid plus the first four matches of the Spanish league season.

LOCAL:

Mike Mutnansky, a host on sports radio station WEEI, was arrested last Monday in Saratoga, N.Y., and charged with driving while intoxicated.

According to a news release from the New York State Police, the 37-year-old Mutnansky was observed by troopers on the evening of Aug. 7 driving a gray Toyota Camry that was failing to stay in its lane on East Avenue.

Troopers conducted a motor vehicle stop and interviewed Mutnansky. The release stated that he “illustrated signs of impairment’’ and admitted to drinking alcohol earlier in the evening.

He was arrested for driving while intoxicated after troopers administered several standard field sobriety tests.

A later test found Mutnansky to have a 0.16 blood alcohol concentration; the legal limit in New York is 0.08.

He is scheduled to appear in the City of Saratoga Court on Friday.

“At the present time, on the advice of counsel, I have no comment,’’ Mutnansky wrote in an e-mail to the Globe. “As the process plays itself out I will address it at the appropriate time.’’

Mutnansky was on the air Monday morning, cohosting the “Kirk and Callahan Show,’’ on which he is a rotating third host. He also hosts evening programming on WEEI, including the Red Sox pregame show.

WEEI executive Phil Zachary did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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